Minka Kelly Responded To Alabama’s Abortion Ban By Bravely Opening Up About Her Own

After Gov. Kay Ivey officially signed Alabama’s anti-abortion legislature into law on Wednesday, Minka Kelly commented on Alabama’s abortion ban in an extremely personal way. The former Friday Night Lights star shared a lengthy Instagram on Thursday, in which she opened up about an abortion she had when she was younger. For Kelly, Alabama’s abortion ban (the strictest in the nation to date) is not only wrong, but it’s doing a disservice to both women and children.

Next to a photo of the 25 Alabama state senators who voted in favor of the bill (the final vote was 25-6) on May 14, Kelly bravely discussed her own experience. For those who haven’t heard the news, most abortions in the state of Alabama are now considered illegal, except when a mother’s life is at serious risk. Also, rape and cases of incest are not considered exceptions. If that isn’t infuriating enough, doctors who perform an abortion could not only be charged with felonies, but also face up to 99 years in prison. All of this has Kelly fired up, as she wrote,

The 38-year-old actor went onto explain why forcing a woman to have a baby can actually do more harm than good for both the mother and the child, especially when that woman "isn’t ready, isn’t financially stable, was raped, [or] a victim of incest (!!)." Furthermore, simply making abortion illegal doesn’t mean it will stop women from attempting it. Kelly also made several good points about why abortion shouldn’t be outlawed. As she explained,

Kelly didn’t stop there, but also wondered how men would feel if the roles were reversed. "By looking at the photo of all the men who are making this mess, I find it hard to believe that if it were the autonomy of a man’s body, health and life in question, I can’t help but be certain we wouldn’t be having this conversation in the first place."

She also went onto thank the men who are supporting women during this difficult time, because as she put it, "women do not get pregnant alone."

Kelly isn’t the only celebrity speaking out against Alabama’s ban, in addition to both Georgia and Missouri’s anti-abortion legislature. On May 15, Busy Philipps, who also discussed her own abortion publicly, wrote on Instagram,

The hashtag, #youknowme, was kicked off by Philipps when she first came forward about her abortion during an episode of her late-night talk show, Busy Tonight.

There are many people, like Kelly and Philipps, who are going to do everything in their power to ensure Roe v. Wade remains intact and that women’s reproductive rights aren’t controlled by the government. FYI: Anyone can lend a helping hand in this fight for women’s rights. We need it now more than ever.

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